Dealership salesman car treatment

[JoelB]

Went to the Nissan dealer 2 days ago to test drive a Versa SR. When I got there the sales lady who I had my appointment with was like "oh shoot you're here, I wanted to remote start it and let it run with the AC on for 10 minutes to cool it down". Which made me have a mini little panic internally. The car had 7 miles on it.

It did make me chuckle a bit though about how picky we can be here on BITOG about new car break-in. When in reality unless you got your car right off the truck it's likely been idled, started, stopped and just plain sat around for weeks.

For another example my local ford dealer blocks the aisles when they close, presumably to stop people driving through overnight. They do this by moving new cars 10 feet forward and then 10 feet backwards every night and morning.

 

[mightymousetech]

New cars that sit on the lot can be started and let idle literally hundreds of times. One of the main reasons why I special ordered my car and picked it up right from the Welt at the factory.

 

[demarpaint]

Went to the Nissan dealer 2 days ago to test drive a Versa SR. When I got there the sales lady who I had my appointment with was like "oh shoot you're here, I wanted to remote start it and let it run with the AC on for 10 minutes to cool it down". Which made me have a mini little panic internally. The car had 7 miles on it.

It did make me chuckle a bit though about how picky we can be here on BITOG about new car break-in. When in reality unless you got your car right off the truck it's likely been idled, started, stopped and just plain sat around for weeks.

For another example my local ford dealer blocks the aisles when they close, presumably to stop people driving through overnight. They do this by moving new cars 10 feet forward and then 10 feet backwards every night and morning.

The lot boys where I worked usually made it a point to beat the hell out of the cars they moved around, new or used. It was not uncommon to rev a cold engine as high as it would go seconds after it was started, do hole shots, power brake, and dump the clutch at red line which give the traction control a work out. lol Idling for ten minutes would have been a blessing. FTR they did that too. Engine management systems are a bit better now, but I'm sure they still abuse new cars today.

 

[Zee09]

The lot boys where I worked usually made it a point to beat the hell out of the cars they moved around, new or used. It was not uncommon to rev a cold engine as high as it would go seconds after it was started, do hole shots, power brake, and dump the clutch at red line which give the traction control a work out. lol Idling for ten minutes would have been a blessing. FTR they did that too. Engine management systems are a bit better now, but I'm sure they still abuse new cars today.

You don't know how many times I showed up at a dealership and chastised the salespeople.

Four or five of them with nothing to do talking about getting wasted etc
while leaning all over a new car in the showroom.
They always scattered quickly.

 

[doublebase]

You know, I never really thought about the 7-8 miles a new car accumulates before you buy it, but I guess yeah, it could be abusive miles. In the grand scheme of things I don’t think it’s something to really worry about because of a little bit of idling and the off chance you have a lot kid smashing that gas pedal or busted up and down the back of the lot (chances aren’t all that great, especially with all the cameras we have everywhere nowadays).

Plus, if you read everyone’s opinions on “engine break in”, some will say it is not necessary, some will say to baby it, some will say to rev it close to redline, some say to stay off the highway, others say only drive highway. Some say to only drive it while eating plain Greek yogurt, some say strawberry. Some say it’s beneficial to fart in the seat at LEAST fifteen times before 1,000 miles. Others say it’s bad luck if you don’t run over a squirrel in the first two weeks, others say it’s ok as long as you hit something bigger (like a skunk) within the first two months.

 

[demarpaint]

You don't know how many times I showed up at a dealership and chastised the salespeople.

Four or five of them with nothing to do talking about getting wasted etc
while leaning all over a new car in the showroom.
They always scattered quickly.

LOL typical!

 

[demarpaint]

You know, I never really thought about the 7-8 miles a new car accumulates before you buy it, but I guess yeah, it could be abusive miles. In the grand scheme of things I don’t think it’s something to really worry about because of a little bit of idling and the off chance you have a lot kid smashing that gas pedal or busted up and down the back of the lot (chances aren’t all that great, especially with all the cameras we have everywhere nowadays).

Plus, if you read everyone’s opinions on “engine break in”, some will say it is not necessary, some will say to baby it, some will say to rev it close to redline, some say to stay off the highway, others say only drive highway. Some say to only drive it while eating plain Greek yogurt, some say strawberry. Some say it’s beneficial to fart in the seat at LEAST fifteen times before 1,000 miles. Others say it’s bad luck if you don’t run over a squirrel in the first two weeks, others say it’s ok as long as you hit something bigger (like a skunk) within the first two months.

Very true, but it doesn't say to do hole shots, power brake, or rev a cold engine as high as it will go multiple times when its cold. They do survive it though!!

 

[RedSpider]

The lot boys where I worked usually made it a point to beat the hell out of the cars they moved around, new or used. It was not uncommon to rev a cold engine as high as it would go seconds after it was started, do hole shots, power brake, and dump the clutch at red line which give the traction control a work out. lol Idling for ten minutes would have been a blessing. FTR they did that too. Engine management systems are a bit better now, but I'm sure they still abuse new cars today.

I worked at a dealer a couple years out of high school. Everything you just said described every single day at that dealership. Occasionally at the end of the day we'd find a car or two completely out of gas and a battery barely able to crank the engine if at all, then realize that when we were shuffling the cars around (cars sitting stagnant in one spot too long tended to spook buyers) someone forgot about it and left it running all day with the stereo on, a/c or heat blowing full, and sometimes the lights on. They only had 2-3 gallons in them from the factory so they would run a few hours.

They'd pull it around back, put a few gallons in it from a can, put it on the battery charger for a couple hours, and back out on the lot, appearing good as new.

The faster, fancier, or sportier the car was, the more it was abused. We got caught and yelled at plenty, but the behavior never changed. Looking back at how those cars were treated makes me cringe.

 

[aquariuscsm]

This is probably one of those classic "what you don't know won't hurt you" moments haha

 

[WylieCoyote]

I won't even hazard a guess on how many times a car is started and shut off within a minute after it's driven off the assembly line. Out to a lot. Move to another lot. Move to a different space within the lot. Drive onto and off the truck, onto and off the train. The list of moves seems like it may be long. Then it has to endure the PDI, the wash bay guys, and the lot guys, and test drives.

This is why I always dump the oil when I get one home.

 

[doublebase]

I worked at a dealer a couple years out of high school. Everything you just said described every single day at that dealership. Occasionally at the end of the day we'd find a car or two completely out of gas and a battery barely able to crank the engine if at all, then realize that when we were shuffling the cars around (cars sitting stagnant in one spot too long tended to spook buyers) someone forgot about it and left it running all day with the stereo on, a/c or heat blowing full, and sometimes the lights on. They only had 2-3 gallons in them from the factory so they would run a few hours.

They'd pull it around back, put a few gallons in it from a can, put it on the battery charger for a couple hours, and back out on the lot, appearing good as new.

The faster, fancier, or sportier the car was, the more it was abused. We got caught and yelled at plenty, but the behavior never changed. Looking back at how those cars were treated makes me cringe.

I worked at a dealer out of high school too...same thing...but this was way back 30 years ago.

I once saw a sales guy leave a car running with a full tank of gas...keys in the ignition, doors locked. All the keys, couldn’t get in.

If a car ever needed to be picked up from another dealer, that car was usually driven 100 mph on the highway and would come back clicking and ticking (as the engine would cool off). And the people that would test drive these cars? Saw a guy come back in a Camaro...accidentally drive it right over the parking curb, tear off the front nose and hand the keys to the sales guy saying, yeah I don’t like it.

 

[Zee09]

I can't stand the moronic YouTube
videos of them revving up new cars so we can hear the sound.

 

[demarpaint]

I worked at a dealer a couple years out of high school. Everything you just said described every single day at that dealership. Occasionally at the end of the day we'd find a car or two completely out of gas and a battery barely able to crank the engine if at all, then realize that when we were shuffling the cars around (cars sitting stagnant in one spot too long tended to spook buyers) someone forgot about it and left it running all day with the stereo on, a/c or heat blowing full, and sometimes the lights on. They only had 2-3 gallons in them from the factory so they would run a few hours.

They'd pull it around back, put a few gallons in it from a can, put it on the battery charger for a couple hours, and back out on the lot, appearing good as new.

The faster, fancier, or sportier the car was, the more it was abused. We got caught and yelled at plenty, but the behavior never changed. Looking back at how those cars were treated makes me cringe.

LOL I forgot about them idling them until they ran out of gas, it happened a lot. I left the business in 2003. After reading this I remember selling someone a new Civic and having the lot boy detail the car, another horror show, and filling it with gas. We delivered all new cars with a full tank of gas. The customer was supposed to pick up the car that morning, she canceled rescheduling for a few days later. The lot boy moved the car to the back of the lot out of the way. He got side tracked, which was typical, we ran them ragged sometimes, and he left the car running. When it was time to deliver the car I told the lot boy to give it a fast wash and bring it to the new car delivery area. It was out of gas, it actually idled long enough to empty a full gas tank. LOL I wish I had a dollar for every time they locked the keys in a running car, and had to open them with the slim-jim.

I could write a book about my car sales experiences.

 

[Danno]

The lot boys where I worked usually made it a point to beat the hell out of the cars they moved around, new or used. It was not uncommon to rev a cold engine as high as it would go seconds after it was started, do hole shots, power brake, and dump the clutch at red line which give the traction control a work out. lol Idling for ten minutes would have been a blessing. FTR they did that too. Engine management systems are a bit better now, but I'm sure they still abuse new cars today.

That would make for a very short career for my lot folks.
1 warning, that's it.

 

[4WD]

That would make for a very short career for my lot folks.
1 warning, that's it.

Hope they are drifters who are just working for the next paycheck and done …

In small towns like I live in … decent jobs are hard to find and see the same guys work careers at our two dealerships
(Ford and GM/Mopar) … Even coworkers like that do not tolerate crap like roughly handing a vehicle …

 

[demarpaint]

That would make for a very short career for my lot folks.
1 warning, that's it.

Management warned them all the time. It went in one ear and out the other, a few got fired and were replaced with someone as stupid as the guy they fired or worse. Very few cared or took the job seriously, for what they were paying finding good help was tough.

I also worked in a start up KIA store in 2001, their "techs" were right out of H.S. with zero experience. You get what you pay for! Their screw ups would make for a great chapter in my book. lol

 

[SeaJay]

My current car purchased new had about 150 miles on it when I took ownership. OMG - that car was ruined, it will never be any good at least to many posters on this board.

That was going on 8 years ago and 100k miles. Never missed a beat. Ruined, I tell you just a ruined auto if I ever had one.

 

[Chris142]

New cars that sit on the lot can be started and let idle literally hundreds of times. One of the main reasons why I special ordered my car and picked it up right from the Welt at the factory.

My Jeep was on the top row of the transport when I first saw it. Guy took it off and I drove it to the dealer with the sales man riding shotgun.

 

[mightymousetech]

My current car purchased new had about 150 miles on it when I took ownership. OMG - that car was ruined, it will never be any good at least to many posters on this board.

That was going on 8 years ago and 100k miles. Never missed a beat. Ruined, I tell you just a ruined auto if I ever had one.

We had one new 550 that was sold in the winter, so countless start/idle to clear snow, park it, start/idle again and again.

Customer picked up car, did not even make it home before the engine seized. Was back less than an hour later on the tow truck to get a new engine.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

New cars that sit on the lot can be started and let idle literally hundreds of times. One of the main reasons why I special ordered my car and picked it up right from the Welt at the factory.

I don't know how you'd manage to keep yourself at under 80 mph on the Autobahn.

On an aside I've ordered a couple of BMW's and upon taking possession at the dealer they've all had about 2 miles on the odometer.